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9 Cards in this Set
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Wendall Wilkie
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In 1940, it was thought that Robert A. Taft of Ohio or Thomas E. Dewey would be the Republican candidate, but a colorful and magnetic newcomer went from a nobody to a candidate in a matter of weeks. Wendell L. Willkie, became the Republican against Democratic candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt, who waited until the last moment to challenge the two-term tradition.
Democrats felt that FDR was the only man qualified to be president, especially in so grave of a situation as was going on. Willkie and FDR weren’t really different in the realm of foreign affairs, but Willkie hit hard with his attacks on the third term. Still, FDR won because voters felt that, should war come, FDR was the best man to lead America. |
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Good Neighbor Policy
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1933 FDR's foreign policy of promoting better relations w/Latin America by using economic influence rather than military force in the region. The U.S. also lifted troops from Panama, but when Mexican forces seized Yankee oil properties, FDR found himself urged to take drastic action.
However, he resisted and worked out a peaceful deal. His “good neighbor” policy was a great success, improving the U.S. image in Latin American eye |
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Nye Committee
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1934 investigated arms manufacturers and bankers of World War I. Claimed they had caused America's entry into WWI. Public opinion pushed Congress to pass the Neutrality Acts to keep us out of WWII.
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Neutrality Acts
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To prevent America from being sucked into war, Congress passed the Neutrality Acts in 1935-37, acts which stated that when the president proclaimed the existence of a foreign war, certain restrictions would automatically go into effect: no American could legally sail on a belligerent ship or sell or transport munitions to a belligerent, or make loans to a belligerent.
The flaw with these acts was that they were designed to prevent America from being pulled into a war like World War I, but World War II would prove to be different. |
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“Quarantine” Speech
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In 1937, Japan essentially invaded China, but FDR didn’t call this combat “a war,” thus allowing the Chinese to still get arms from the U.S., and in Chicago of that year, he merely verbally chastised the aggressors, calling for “a quarantine” of Japan (through economic embargoes, perhaps); this was his famous “Quarantine Speech.”
The Quarantine Speech asked for America to stay neutral but to morally side against the fascist nations. However, this speech angered many isolationists, and FDR backed down a bit from any more direct actions. |
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Hitler-Stalin Non-Aggression Pact
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1939 the U.S.S.R. shocked the world by signing a nonaggression treaty with Germany.
Now, it seemed that Germany could engulf all of Europe, especially without having to worry about fight a two-front war in case in case Russia fought back. In essence, the nonaggression pact opened the door to Poland. |
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Lend-Lease Act
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1941 Britain was running out of money, but Roosevelt didn’t want all the hassles that came with calling back debts, so he came up with the idea of a lend-lease program in which the arms and ships, etc. that the U.S. lent to the nations that needed them would be returned when they were no longer needed.
Senator Taft retorted that in this case the U.S. wouldn’t want them back because it would be like lending chewing gum then taking it back after it’d been chewed. The lend-lease bill was argued over heatedly in Congress, but it passed, and by war’s end, America had sent about $50 billion worth of arms and equipment. The lend-lease act was basically the abandonment of the neutrality policy, and Hitler recognized this. Before, German submarines had avoided attacking U.S. ships, but after the passage, they started to fire upon U.S. ships as well, such as the May 21, 1941 torpedoing of the Robin Moor. |
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Destroyers for Bases Agreement
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1940 FDR boldly moved to transfer 50 old-model, four-funnel destroyers left over from WWI, and in return, the British promised to give the U.S. eight valuable defensive base sites stretching from Newfoundland to South America.
These would stay in American ownership for 99 years. Obviously, this caused controversy, but FDR had begun to stop playing the silly old games of isolationism and was slowly starting to step out into the spotlight. |
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Atlantic Charter 1941
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The Atlantic Conference was held in August 1941, and the result was the eight-point Atlantic Charter, which was suggestive of Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points. Main points included…
There would be no territorial changes contrary to the wishes of the natives. The charter also affirmed the right for people to choose their rulers (self-determination). It declared disarmament and a peace of security, as well as a new League of Nations |
